As the title attests, these are "outtakes" so don't expect highly finished productions here. This is audio archeology for the hardened fan as we get the chance to hear work-in-progress, around the time "Axis" was being put together. Sound quality is mostly poor and there are only really one or two interesting moments in there.

"Spanish Castle Magic" - A ridiculous choice as the opener as the sound quality is very muffled. Apart from that it doesn't sound that much different to the master."Little Wing" - Identical to the version presented on the MCA box set.You Got Me Floating" - Drums are practically inexistant but the track doesn't differ much from the master apart from the inferior sound quality.She's So Fine" - An earlier version of the song with different vocal track from Noel and it is without the falsetto backing vocals."Little Miss Lover" - Alternate vocal and guitar from Jimi (with the wolf whistle opening), before the song fades out quickly (this track had previously appeared on Univibes' "Calling Long Distance")."Bold As Love" - A nice raw vocal on this but a more rudimentary arrangement. Too fast and muffled."Takin' Care Of No Business" - The first is identical to the box set version (apart from some opening chat which has been patched in). The second version features Chas Chandler's 1987* brass overdubs, which one can presume were intended at the initial recording stage. They work perfectly. Nice work Chas."South Saturn Delta" - A disposable and tedious early take with good sound but without the brass section that Jimi later added (see the album of the same name). It goes on and on with the basic riff, without any soloing."Cat Talkin' To Me" - Good sound quality again and this is a sketch of a song with Mitch providing the voice (1987 overdub again). He sings, or rather speaks as an alien observing Earth (like with Jimi's mutterings on "Third Stone From The Sun"). Mitch had been a T.V. child actor in his youth, notably as the schoolboy "Jennings"."Stars That Play..." differs little from the master except that it's a muffled mix.

The second CD is really made up of bonus material, the tracks being recorded after the completion of "Axis"."Dream", this brief Redding song is pure sixties psychedelia (very Beatles inspired). It appeared also on the official Noel Redding tribute "The Experience Sessions"."Dance" - A vocal by Mitch Mitchell ! Songwriter credits go to Redding/Mitchell and this has a basic riff that Jimi would later incorporate into "Ezy Ryder" !"Little One (Takes 1&2)" - Guest star here is Dave Mason of Traffic (and not Brian Jones as often reported) on sitar and slide guitar. These are instrumental outtakes of the Noel Redding song "There Ain't Nothing Wrong" (as the 2003 "Experience Sessions" revealed - see Posthumous Studio releases 2000+). "Take Two" puts the spotlight more on Mason as only Jimi's rhythm track is present."Driving South" - Jimi unfortunately seems to have guitar trouble and drops out for most of the track ! When he comes back in, the band briefly go into a ragged"Sgt. Peppers," before grinding to a halt."Jazz Jimi Jazz" - Perhaps the most interesting track here. It perhaps dates from June 1968 and features Buddy Miles on drums."Tax Free" and "Somewhere" - Rough mixes of the familiar masters with minor differences, but sometimes with overdubs that were buried or effaced for the "final" master. "Tax Free" has the original drums (and cowbell) by Mitch before he overdubbed a new drum track in 1971."Cherokee Mist" - It isn't that at all ! It's a studio version of ... "God Save The Queen" of all things ! I thought it was a bit dodgy and I later discovered, on the official Hendrix site, that it was in fact the work of an imposter (Hendrix biographer David Henderson I think) who managed to sell it to Alan Douglas ! He later confessed that it was a fake. Purple Haze Records, I imagine, weren't aware of this.Three Little Bears" - Older fans know this from "War Heroes" (and more recently the "Merry Xmas" maxi) but here it goes into a long relaxed jam improvisation, incorporating a little of "South Saturn Delta" and a coda similar to "Little Wing". The original Kramer edit was better.

*Tapes had been found at Olympic Studios so Chas called in The Experience rhythm section to complete or enhance the recordings. These and further recordings circulated as the bootleg "Studio Haze" and some tracks turned up in 2010 on the official "Valleys Of Neptune" album./hendrix.guide.pagesperso-orange.fr/